Uma Bharti plans Ayodhya visit, BJP tells her not to go
The BJP made it clear that Union minister Uma Bharti would not be asked to quit the Cabinet.
New Delhi: The BJP has decided to stand behind the saffron heavyweights — to be charged for criminal conspiracy in the Babri mosque demolition case — and provide “all possible support” to them.
The BJP, which has been raking up the Ayodhya issue, made it clear that Union minister Uma Bharti would not be asked to quit the Cabinet.
The party, however, stopped Ms Bharti from going to Ayodhya to offer prayers. Soon after the Supreme Court order, she had announced that she would visit Ayodhya to seek lord Ram’s blessings for an early construction of a grand Ram temple.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also asked the saffronites to exercise restraint and not make any controversial statements. Sources said that after the meeting with the PM, the BJP chief asked Ms Bharti to cancel her planned Ayodhya trip.
The saffron sanyasan, known for her strident views on Hindutva, told a TV channel, “Mujhe faansi ho jaye, jail ho jaye, Ayodhya ke liye, Ganga ke liye, tirange ke liye, mai taiyaar hun (I’m ready to sacrifice my life, ready to go to jail for Ayodhya, the Ganga and the national flag).” Ms Bharti claimed that there was “no conspiracy.” She insisted that everything “happened in the open.”